Olden Era Town Building Guide — Construction Priority & Economy vs Army

Town building in Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is a careful balancing act between economic development and military preparedness. The first week of every campaign determines whether your economy snowballs into dominance or collapses under the weight of premature army recruitment. This guide provides exact Day 1 through Day 7 build orders for all six factions, explains the economy versus army trade-off, and covers defensive facility planning so your towns survive AI aggression while your build order stays on track.

The Golden Rule of Week 1 Building

The single most important rule for town building in Olden Era is this: recruit your initial army on Day 1, then stop recruiting entirely until Week 2. Every gold piece spent on mid-week recruitment is a gold piece that is not building your Tier 6 dwelling. Since Tier 6 units define your army strength for the entire mid-game, delaying their dwelling by even one day can cascade into a permanent disadvantage.

This rule applies to every faction on every difficulty. On Hard difficulty, it is not a suggestion — it is a requirement for success. The AI does not follow the same economic constraints as the player, and if your economy is not soaring by Week 2, the AI will outscale you and overwhelm your towns. The build orders in this guide are all calibrated for Hard difficulty, which means they represent the most efficient path to a Tier 6 dwelling by Day 7 while maintaining enough army to clear nearby neutral stacks.

A related principle is resource pickup priority. When your hero opens a treasure chest or completes a quest that offers a resource choice, the default answer is gold. The only exception is when you are one or two units away from a critical rare resource (such as a gem for Temple or a crystal for Grove) and the build order will stall without it. In that specific case, take the rare resource. Otherwise, gold is the correct choice "almost" every time. Gold buys everything eventually, including rare resources via the Marketplace, but rare resources cannot buy gold.

Day 1 Through Day 7 Build Order: All Six Factions

The following table provides a day-by-day build order for all six factions. These orders are optimized for Hard difficulty and assume you have secured at least one gold mine and basic resource buildings by Day 1. If your starting situation is worse than this, prioritize exploration and resource capture before building anything beyond the Day 1 dwelling.

g = gold, w = wood, o = ore, m = mercury, g = gems, c = crystal. All costs are base values without economy bonuses.

Faction-Specific Building Strategy Notes

Necropolis: The Gold-Heavy Standard

Necropolis has the most straightforward build order but also the highest gold pressure after Schism. The Kennel on Day 1 gives you access to basic units immediately. Eternal Visage upgrades on Days 2 and 3 are the economy engine — they increase gold income per day. Do not skip or delay these upgrades. Bone Exchange on Day 4 is expensive but essential for the Tomb of Warriors prerequisite chain. The Fortifications on Day 6 exist solely to unlock the Tomb of Warriors on Day 7 — they are not a strong defensive investment on their own. If you have extra gold after Day 7, then upgrade Fortifications. The recommended hero for Necropolis is Zam, whose passive generates 1 mercury per day, reducing the mercury bottleneck for Bone Exchange.

Temple: The Gem Bottleneck

Temple requires 13 gems total across its build order, making it one of the most resource-constrained factions. The Sundrop Chapel on Day 4 consumes 3 gems, the Threshold Basilica on Day 6 consumes 10 gems, and various other buildings may require additional gems depending on your build. The Marketplace on Day 5 is therefore not optional — it is mandatory for trading gold into gems. If you find 5 or more gems from exploration by Day 4, you can accelerate Threshold Basilica to Day 5 and push Hippodrome to Day 6 or 7. The recommended hero is Heretic Avis, who generates 1 gem per day, directly addressing the core bottleneck. A note of caution: do not force the angel recruitment route on Hard difficulty. Angels are powerful but the resource cost is prohibitive for most campaigns.

Dungeon: The Flexible Economy

Dungeon has the lowest total gold investment of any faction, which means you have more flexibility to trade for rare resources. The Amphitheatre on Day 1 is cheap and provides an immediate economy boost. The Labyrinth on Day 4 is expensive for what it gives you (minotaur access), so you may be tempted to delay it. Do not. The Chthonic Home on Day 7 requires the Labyrinth as a prerequisite. Day 5 is the flexible slot: build a Bank if your economy is stable, a Marketplace if you are short on gems, or a Mage Guild if you want spell support for your hero. The recommended hero is Creta, Daughter of Navarr, who generates 1 gem per day.

Schism: The Gold Pressure Champion

Schism requires the highest total gold investment of any faction at "33,100" gold plus Day 1 recruitment costs. The gold pressure is so high that many players fail the Schism build order not because of rare resources, but because they run out of gold on Day 4 or 5. The solution is to prioritize gold income buildings and to take gold from every chest. The Abyssal Remnant upgrades on Days 2 and 3 should at minimum take the gold upgrade option once; taking it twice is safer. The Mage Guild on Day 4 is not optional — Schism heroes rely heavily on spells. Day 5 is flexible: if you have low gold but sufficient rare resources, build Disturbing Summoning Rite; if you have gold but want to delay rare resource payment, build House of Chains and push the Rite to Day 6 or 7.

Grove: The Crystal Challenge

Grove needs 17 crystals total, which is extremely difficult on Hard difficulty where you start with only 10 crystals. The Menhir Circle on Day 1 consumes 3 crystals immediately, leaving you with 7 and a need for 10 more. This is why the Marketplace on Day 3 is not optional — it is the essential lifeline. The build order deliberately skips Grove Palace III to save crystals, which is a controversial but necessary optimization. The recommended hero is Mreowa, who generates 1 crystal per day. With Mreowa recruited by Day 2, you will have 7 additional crystals by Day 7, which combined with Marketplace trades should be sufficient. If you cannot secure crystals, consider restarting the map — Grove without crystals is not viable on Hard.

Hive: The Crystal Extreme

Hive needs 20 crystals, which is the highest crystal requirement in the game. Unlike Grove, Hive does not need gems or mercury, which simplifies the resource puzzle but does not make it easy. The Paper Nest on Day 1 is a strong start. The Apiary's Heart upgrades on Days 2 and 3 are standard. The Marketplace on Day 4 is mandatory unless you get lucky with crystal finds. Chitinous Ziggurat on Day 5 and Apex on Day 6 are both crystal-heavy, so you must have your crystal income solved by Day 4. The recommended hero is Bathym, Duke of Jewels, who generates 1 crystal per day. From Day 1, plan every exploration turn around finding crystals. Do not rely on finding a Crystal Cave in Week 1 — it is too unreliable.

Economy vs Army: The Trade-Off Matrix

Every building decision in the first week is a trade-off between economic development and military strength. The following table breaks down each major decision point and explains the optimal choice, the risk of deviation, and the conditions under which you can deviate safely.

Defense Facilities and Town Security

While your build order focuses on economic development, you must also ensure your town can survive an AI attack. In Olden Era, AI heroes will occasionally target player towns, especially on Hard and Heroic difficulties. A town with no defenses can fall in a single attack, losing all progress on the build order. The following table covers the key defensive buildings and when to prioritize them.

The general rule for defense is: complete your Tier 6 dwelling first, then assess the threat level. If an AI hero is within two turns of your town, build City Walls immediately after the Tier 6 dwelling. If the nearest AI hero is five or more turns away, you can delay defenses until Week 2. The Mage Guild deserves a special mention: even if you are not playing a magic-focused faction, the defensive spells from Mage Guild (such as Shield and Stone Skin) can swing a town defense battle. For factions like Temple, Dungeon, and Grove, Mage Guild should be treated as a high-priority defensive building, not just an optional luxury.

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